Suchergebnisse

The paper discusses the role of the European Parliament in the inter-institutional quest for power on the ground of the effectiveness of its control over the supra- national institutions and bodies with the intelligence function as well as in the protection of the right to privacy. The starting assumption is that, despite the Lisbon reform, the powers and jurisdiction of the European Parliament are still quite limited with a view to oversight of the EU policy implementation and the performance of the EU institutions, respectively. The author examines the following cases: the recently revealed practice of massive electronic surveillance of the EU citizens' communication, the unselective processing of personal data, and the semi-secretive set up of a supranational intelligence function out of the MEPs' reach. The analyzed cases show that the European Parliament's control powers are weak when it comes to the issues that demand a narrow technical expertise, but still can endanger civil rights. The author concludes that the protection of the right to privacy can indicate the real power of the Parliament in future dynamics of the supranational institutional framework.

This article deals with the issues of self-determination and multiethnic regionalisms in Dalmatia, Istria and Vojvodina - historic regions of today's Croatia and Serbia. The main aim is to explain the outcomes of regionalisms since 1990. The article analyses three important elements of regionalist mobilisation - the use of historiography, regional economic specificities and intergroup relations. Particular constellations of self-determination claims based on plurinational and multinational principles in the cases of Istria and Vojvodina respectively are the key theoretical contribution of the article. The article also finds that the lack of success of Dalmatian regionalism is largely due to the inability of regionalist parties to address multiple cleavages on the territory of Dalmatia. Adapted from the source document.

Inter-municipal cooperation (IMC), as a form of decentralized implementation of public services and as a part of the local government system, is seen as a means to ensure balanced regional development, better quality of public services, as well as a way to adjust the needs of government organization to the needs of a society, with respect to its structural characteristics and needs. In this paper, the basic forms of inter-municipal cooperation, subjects of cooperation, ways in which the cooperation operates, areas in which the cooperation is achieved, nature of the jurisdiction, financing and management methods, affecting factors, and the specific advantages and disadvantages of this form of decentralized implementation of public services are specified, through the analysis of relevant international documents from this field, experiences and practices from different European countries, as well as normative frameworks and practices of inter-municipal cooperation in Serbia. Bearing in mind that the practice of inter-municipal cooperation has not sufficiently come to life in Serbia, and that there is a number of questions related to it and to the other aspects of decentralization, this research is intended to boost the intensive progress of inter-municipal cooperation in Serbia, as a means to improve the decentralization of public services, and also to overcome the problems local governments are facing. The author finds that, unlike alternative solutions, inter-municipal cooperation preserves local autonomy, strengthening the capacity at the local level and ensuring the implementation of territorial reforms that are conducted "from below", according to the needs of the citizens. Inter-municipal cooperation, regardless of its form, is a type of decentralized implementation of public services. Although it is suspected that the certain form of concentration is achieved through integrated forms of cooperation, these tasks are still performed within a level that is not central; the state does not take any additional role, which would reduce the degree of independence of the entities that are not central, i.e. reduce the decentralized character of these services, or which would strengthen the centralizing tendencies of the state or strengthen state control. In Europe, you can see many examples of very effective cooperation, which has proved to be a solution not just for many structural problems of local government, but also for the vertical government organization in general. IMC provided the solutions that alternatively required radical changes in the territorial organization. Also, IMC proved to be a mechanism that provided regional policy, development goals, public-private partnerships and territorial harmonization. The existing legislative framework of inter-municipal cooperation in Serbia mainly emphasizes voluntary cooperation of individual local governments, without a hint of a widespread or better controlled integration. Apart from the fact that the obligatory cooperation is only an exception, even some of the fundamental questions of its establishment and implementation are not regulated. The need for cooperation consists mainly in providing the regional services and equitable development, in overcoming the limitations, as well as in the more adequate use of local capacities. However, the regulatory framework does not provide a reliable basis for the establishment of high quality, durable and effective partnerships. Given the existence of asymmetric decentralization, one-level local governments, uneven capacities, as well as the development of decentralized units in Serbia, some of the solutions of inter-municipal cooperation can be considered a means of ensuring regional requirements in countries that are characterized by similar solutions, i.e. problems, without any change in the constitutional concept of decentralization. The main areas where the promotion of decentralized systems can be established are regional and spatial development planning, public utility services, tourism, civil and environment protection services, local governments and so on.

The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a difference between female abstinents in Bosnia and Herzegovina in terms of certain demographics (age, education, rural-urban, party and ethnicity) and socio-psychological characteristics (interest in politics, the ways of getting their information about politics, trust in institutions, dogmatism, nationalism, cosmopolitanism, the end justifies the means, the attitude towards the leader, conservatism, liberalism and authoritarianism). The study was conducted in the first half of March 2013, on a sample of 483 adult women who did not plan to vote in the upcoming elections, who in the past six years (three election cycles) either voted occasionally, or they voted, but have no intention of voting again, or they have never voted. We started from the assumption that the different modes of political abstinence differ with respect to the measured variables. The results show that the three categories of women abstinents differ in terms of certain socio-demographic variables: age, education, ethnicity, party affiliation and religious beliefs. There are differences among respondents concerning political interests. The greatest interest was found among the respondents who manipulate their turning out to the polls, followed by those who were disappointed in the elections, while the slightest interest in politics was among the respondents who have never voted. Television is still the dominant medium for getting information about political events, the second and third ones are newspapers and radio, but they are much less influential. Yet among the three categories of women abstinents significant differences were found only regarding television and radio. Three categories of women abstinents differ only in cosmopolitanism and liberalism variables. There is a difference between women abstinents in their confidence in institutions. The most trust in institutions is found in women who occasionally took part in the elections, followed by those who voted, but no longer do so. The least trust in institutions is found among women who have never voted. ; Cilj ovog istraživanja je ustanoviti da li postoji razlika među apstinenticama u Bosni i Hercegovini prema određenim demografskim (starost, obrazovanje, selo-grad, stranačka i etnička pripadnost) i socio-psihološkim karakteristikama (zainteresovanost za politiku, način informisanja o politici, povjerenje u institucije, dogmatizam, nacionalizam, kosmopolitizam, cilj opravdava sredstvo, odnos prema vođi, konzervativizam, konzervativistička autoritarnost i liberalizam). Istraživanje je provedeno u prvoj polovini marta 2013. godine na uzorku od 483 punoljetne žene koje ne planiraju da glasaju na predstojećim izborima, a koje su u posljednjih šest godina (tri izborna ciklusa) nekad glasale, a nekad ne, glasale su, ali više neće, ili nikad nisu glasale. Pošli smo od pretpostavke da će različiti modaliteti političke apstinencije da se razlikuju s obzirom na mjerene varijable. Dobijeni rezultati pokazuju da se tri kategorije apstinentica razlikuju po pojedinim sociodemografskim varijablama: starost, obrazovanje, etnička i stranačka pripadnost i vjerska ubjeđenja. Ispitanice se međusobno razlikuju i zainteresovanošću za politiku. Najveće interesovanje nalazimo kod ispitanica koje manipulišu svojim izlaskom na izbore, a slijede one koje su se razočarale u izbore, dok je zainteresovanost za politiku najmanja kod ispitanica koje uopšte ne glasaju na izborima. Televizija je još uvijek dominantan medij za informisanje o političkim dešavanjima, dok su na drugom i trećem mjestu dnevne novine i radio, ali su znatno manje uticajni. Ipak, između tri kategorije apstinentica nalazimo značajne razlike samo kod televizije i radija. Tri kategorije apstinentica se međusobno razlikuju samo po varijablama kosmopolitizam i liberalizam. Prisutna je i razlika između apstinentica po njihovom povjerenju u institucije. Najviše povjerenja u institucije nalazimo kod ispitanica koje nekad izlaze, a nekad ne izlaze na izbore, slijede ispitanice koje su glasale, ali više neće. Najmanje povjerenja u institucije nalazimo kod ispitanica koje nikad ne glasaju.

Rusija i Balkan između istorije i budućnosti; Velika Britanija i Balkan; Američki interes na Balkanu i Srednozemnom basenu; Nemačka i Balkan; Balkanske zemlje - Slovenija, Hrvatska, Bosna i Hercegovina, Srbija, Crna Gora, Makedonija, Albanija, Grčka, Rumunija, Moldavija, Bulgarska; Ekonomski aspekt zemalja Balkana; Srbija i ekonomska kriza - privredi i geopolitički aspekt; Pitanje Kosova i Metohije; Vojna neutralnost Crne Gore [...].

The author deals with one of the most pressing problems of the 20th century - the problem of migrations. The essay is divided into four parts. In the first, the author presents empirical findings; in the second, he deals with the causes of the intra- and inter-national migrations; the third part is an outline of feasible perspectives, while the fourth offers possible options as countermeasures. The 20th century is characterized by the shift of the regional focal points of migrations. In the first half of the century, the inter-national migrations of refugees largely took place in Europe. However, in the second half of the century, the hub of the migrations shifted from the northern to the southern hemisphere. One of the major causes of migrations are wars and the accompanying violence. Other important causes are economic hardships, population boom, ecological disasters and the erosion of traditional values. Judging by the characteristics of the major causes of migrations, it is very unlikely that the situation at the turn of the millennium is going to change significantly. The only thing international organizations and states can do is to alleviate this problem by creating long-term strategies that might strike at the roots of the migration issue. (SOI : PM: S. 59)

The Lisbon Treaty has brought significant changes into the architecture of the European Union. The most important novelty, however, is the establishment of a full unity of the Union structure achieved by creating new and strengthening the existing elements. The new elements of this unity are the disappearance of the European Community, the 'independence' of the European Atomic Energy Community, constituting the European Union as a single entity and the introduction of EU values. At the same time, the Lisbon Treaty has strengthened the existing elements of the common institutional mechanisms, rules on amending the founding treaties and EU membership. However, constituting the Union as a single entity which has replaced and succeeded the European Communities has not abolished the EU elements of diversity. In the areas that differed, even before the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, from the community pillar, there remain significant differences in the nature and the scope of competences of the Union institutions. This mainly regards the common foreign and security policy, which now includes the defense policy, where the existing model of inter-state cooperation has been only slightly interfered with. In contrast, in the field of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, which has become part of a larger Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, the inter-state model of cooperation has been abandoned in some of its most important elements. However, the implementation of some of the important elements of the supranational model has been postponed.

Predmet ove uporedne analize je istraţivanje sadrţaja i realizacije izbornih programa relevantnih političkih partija iz BiH, Srbije i Hrvatske u periodu od 2002 do 2012 godine. Analizom izbornih programa utvrĎeni su sadrţaji po relevantnosti, mjerljivosti, sektorskoj pripadnosti, obećanjima i usklaĎenosti sa javnim interesom, a istraţivanjem realizacije izbornih programa relevantnih vladajućih partija dobijeni su rezultati o ispunjavanju izbornih obećanja. TakoĎe, analiziran je partijski, izborni i politički kontekst i procesi, kako bi se rezultati ove analize doveli u vezu sa rezultatima analize sadrţaja i realizacije izbornih programa relevantnih političkih partija. Za ovo istraţivanje odabrani su izborni programi relevantnih političkih partija, koje su bile vodeće vladajuće i opozicione u prethodna tri izborna ciklusa, u tri susjedne drţave, koje imaju zajedničku drţavnu prošlost i druge sličnosti. UsklaĎenost izbornih programa sa javnim interesom i njihova realizacija su problem koji je direktno povezan sa izbornim legitimisanjem, zastupanjem javnog interesa, predstavničkom demokratijom, partokratskim i drugim sistemskim deformacijama i potrebom redefinisanja partijskog i drugih dijelova političkog sistema. Kriza izbornog legitimiteta i institucionalnog zastupanja graĎana polazi od partijskih izbornih programa, koji su nesuklaĎeni sa javnim interesom i koji se, kao takvi, nezadovoljavajuće realizuju, a manifestuje se kada partokratija zamijeni demokratiju, kada privatno-partijski nadvlada javni interes i kada, umjesto zastupanja javnog interesa u institucijama vlasti, postoji samo puko predstavljanje. NeusklaĎeni izborni programi sa javnim interesom i neispunjavanje izbornih obećanja su posljedica sistemske greške, čijim se otklanjanjem stvaraju uslovi za uspostavljanje i postojanje predstavničke i drugih oblika demokratije. ; Subject of this comparison analysis is research of contents and realization of electoral programs of relevant political parties from BiH, Serbia and Croatia in period from year 2002 to 2012. By analysis of electoral programs contents were determined by its relevance, measurability, sector belonging, promises and harmonization with public interest, and by research of realization of electoral programs of relevant ruling political parties results were acquired about fulfilment of electoral promises. Also, we have analyzed partisan, electoral and political context and processes, so we could correlate results of this analysis with results of content analysis and realization of electoral programs and relevant political parties. For this research we have selected electoral programs of relevant political parties which were prime ruling and opposition parties in previous three electoral cycles in three neighbouring countries and which have mutual state history and other similarities. Harmonization of electoral programs with public interest and its realization is a problem which is directly linked with electoral legitimacy, representing of public interest, representative democracy, partisan and other systematic anomalies and need for redefining partisan and other parts of political system. Crisis of political legitimacy and institutional representation of citizens derives from partisan electoral programs which are in disharmony with public interest and which are, as such, and not sufficiently realized, and it is manifested when partisanship replaces democracy, when private-partisan overcomes public interest and when, instead of representing public interest in institutions of authority, there is only mere or symbolic representation. Electoral programs which are not harmonized with public interest and lack of fulfilment of electoral promises is consequence of systematic error, and by its removal, conditions are created for establishing and existence of representative and other forms of democracy.

The disintegration of the socialist regime in Europe did away with the bipolar model of world order and inaugurated a new phase in seeking a new structure and model of international relations. This new world order, only broadly outlined and characterised by (mostly) unilateral leadership, has already been challenged. Two superpowers China and Russia - condemn the hegemony, unilateralism and the attempts at dictating the international relations. China and Russia are supported by a group of disgruntled countries who also think that a broadly-based multi-polarity is the direction that inter-national relations and the new world order should take. Judging by these challenges and criticisms it might be said that only multilateral co-operativeness can guarantee validity to the nascent world order. (SOI : PM: S. 93)